Apparatus for transferring rod-like articles



Aug- 3, 1955 D. w. MOLINS ETAL 3,193,350

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 TuvEmoes @mawwww Aug. 3, 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING RODLIKE ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1965 QQ W 3, 1965 D. w. MOLINS ETAL 3,198,350

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ROD-LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 18, 1965 r 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I vEA/TMS @Mm, @Zwwfl United States Patent 3,198,350 APPARATUS FUR TRANSFERRING RGDIIKE ARTICLES Desmond Walter Molina, and Horace Alexander Stone,

London, England, assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Fiied Feb. 18, 1963, der. No. 259,277 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 20, 1%2, 6572/62 5 Ciairns. (Cl. 214-6) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to apparatus for transferring rodlike articles, such as cigarettes, from a first stack of horizontal rows of articles to a second such stack. More particularly the invention is concerned with apparatus for transferring cigarettes from a hopper to a container commonly referred to as a tray.

It has been found convenient to feed the output from modern high speed cigarette-making machines automatically into containers positioned alongside the delivery station of such a machine. The apparatus involved may be that disclosed in United States patent application Serial No. 234,592 in which cigarettes are transferred row by row, or two rows at a time, from a delivery station into a container in which the rows nest together. During part of the transfer period the newly transferred row or rows slide over the tops of the topmost row of the stack of cigarettes already present in the container. This sliding transfer may be satisfactory if the cigarettes have quite regular and smooth cylindrical surfaces but when the surfaces possess any roughness or especially when the cylindrical surface is stepped, as in the case with tipped cigarettes, the leading edge of the bottom of the incoming row. or rows tends to catch on the stepped portion or on any roughness. The present invention provides means by which the risk of this catching may be avoided.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for transferring the bottom row of a first stack of rodlike articles on to the topmost row of a second stack of rodlike articles, the said topmost row being at a lower level than the said bottom row, and spaced from it in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the articles, comprising support means on which said bottom row rests, said means terminating adjacent said topmost row, pusher means to push said bottom row in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the articles, for the said bottom row to fall on to the said topmost row, and resilient means above the extremity of said support means to apply to the trailing ends of the articles a downward force to stop the leading ends of the articles tilting downwards into contact with the topmost row due to their own weight as the trailing ends of the articles approach the extremity of the supporting means.

The resilient means may be constituted by a flexible strip or strips of material such as polyvinyl chloride.

An additional downward force may be applied to the articles by a further flexible strip, this force acting to push down the trailing ends of the articles as they leave the extremity of the support means.

One embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a section through apparatus for feeding cigarettes into a container,

FIGURE 2 is the same section as FIGURE 1, but with the mechanism shown at a later stage, and also showing certain features of the driving mechanism, and

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

Cigarettes are fed into a hopper shown generally at 1 and pass downwards between rods 2 carried on a reciprocating bar 3, and between oscillating agitators 4, and

3,198,350 Patented Aug. 3, 1965 thence to form a stack of cigarettes C between each pair of vanes 5. The bar 3 is reciprocated by means of a cam 20 which cooperates with a roller follower 21 mounted on the end of the bar. A tension spring 22 holds the cam follower 21 in engagement with the cam Zli. The agitators 4 are oscillated by means of gears 23 which mesh with gears 24 carried on an oscillating shaft 25. The shaft 25 is oscillated by means of a four-lobed cam 26 which cooperates with a roller cam follower 27 mounted on an arm 28 which is pivoted to fixed structure at 29, and is pivoted at its other end to a further :arm 30. The lower end of the arm 36 is pivoted to an arm 31 secured to the shaft 25, and the upper end of the arm is urged upwards by a tension spring 32 to keep the cam follower 2'7 in engagement with the cam 26.

A front member 6 and rear member 7 restrain endwise movement of the cigarettes within the hopper, but both members 6 and 7 stop short of the cigarettes C and C of the bottom two rows of the stack, thus leaving room for a plunger plate 8 to enter the hopper from the front 6 to plunge out the bottom rows of cigarettes C C through the space below the back member 7.

The cigarettes all have mouthpiece ends shown at CM.

The plunger 8 is moved into and out of the hopper 1 by means of a crank 33 secured to a rotating shaft 34, and a connecting rod 35 which is pivoted at one end to the crank 33, and is pivoted at its other end to a lug 36 carried by the plunger 8.

The two rows of cigarettes C and C rest on support means comprising a support plate 13 which has ribs 13b, and a further plate 13a which has similar ribs 130. The bottom row of cigarettes C rests on the support plate 13 between the ribs 13b, and the row of cigarettes C above it rests on the ribs 13b. Above the cigarettes C are the further cigarettes C forming vertical stacks: between the vanes 5. When the plunger 8 has removed the two rows of cigarettes C and C the bottom cigarette C of each stack between the vanes 5 falls on to the plunger 8. At the same time, the plate 13 is moved to bring the ribs 13b below the vanes 5 so that, as the plunger 8 is withdrawn, the cigarettes resting on the plunger 8, each fall into a space between a pair of ribs 13b. The plate 13 is then moved back into the position shown in FIGURE 3. The cigarettes C, which are now at the bottom of each stack between the vanes 5 fall on to the ribs 13b and nest between the cigarettes between the ribs 13b. The plunger 8 then removes the two rows of cigarettes on the plate 13 and the operation is repeated.

The movement of the plate 13 is produced by a cam 37 with which cooperates a roller follower 38 carried by a lug 39 on the plate 13. The cam 37 is rotated at the same speed as the shaft 34 so that one reciprocation of the plate 13 occurs for each reciprocation of the plunger 8.

The back member 7 is fixed to a part 9 of the hopper to which are also fixed three polyvinyl chloride strips 10, 11 and 12. These strips extend the whole width of the hopper and the strip 11 is somewhat thicker and less flexible than the other two strips lit and 12 which are thinnish and flexible. Below these strips is the further support plate 13a. The strip 11 is of less height than the strip 12, which in turn is of less height than the strip 10.

Behind the hopper l, a container 15 is carried on a bracket 16 fixed to a chain conveyor 17 which moves in the direction of the arrow shown on the bracket. At the back of the container 15, i.e. its left as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 is a stop member 18 provided with a flexible strip 19. The stop member 18 is hinged at 40 to a plate 41 carried by a Wall 42. The stop member 18 is held in the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 by a tension spring 43. The hinge 40 allows the stop member 18 to be lifted for the container 15 to be removed.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

Cigarettes C form stacks in the hopper 1 between the vanes and a ow of cigarettes C rests on the plate 13 between the ribs 13b and a further row of cigarettes C rests on the ribs 13b. The plunger 3 pushes the bottom two rows of the cigarettes C and C below the back member 7. As the leading faces of the cigarettes move over the plate 13a they impinge first against the flexible strip 12 and then against the strip 10, lifting both strips which, being flexible, bend in the direction or" movement of the cigarettes, Since the strip 12 is to the right of the thicker and less flexible strip 11 the curvature of bending is small as can be seen in FIGURE 2 as compared with the bending of the strip 10, and the bending of the strip 12 is localized at its lower end. The lower end of the strip 12 grips the moving rows of cigarettes C C between the strip and the plate 13a and ribs 13c and holds the rows therebetween so that their movement is continned in the same direction along their longitudinal axes as when they started moving and when they were supported on the extension plate 13 and ribs 13b. The strip 12 thus applies a downward force to the trailing ends of the cigarettes C and C which stops the leading ends of the cigarettes tilting downwards when they have moved to the position shown in FIGURE 2 and catching on the mouthpiece ends of the topmost row of cigarettes in the container 15.

As soon as the trailing end of the cigarettes of the moving rows pass beyond the grip of the strip 12 the rows drop due to the action of gravity and of the downward force exerted by the strip 10. The strip applies its downward force beyond the extremity of the plate 130. The cigarettes of the bottom row of the two moving rows then nest with the top row of the rows within the container 15, their momentum being suificient to carry them against the strip 19 on the stop member 18, and the cigarettes of the top row of the moving rows nests with the bottom row of the moving rows.

The invention is not limited in its application to use with the particular nested arrangement of the cigarettes C and C shown, but is also applicable where the cigarettes of each horizontal row are in contact with the cigarette on either side, and only one row of cigarettes is moved at one time by the plunger 8. The downward force applied by the strip 10 gives additional downward force to the trailing ends of the cigarettes and thereby forces them into intimate contact with the top row in the container. Without this force it has been found that the trailing ends of the cigarettes sometimes do not nest closely enough.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for transferring the bottom row of a first stack of rodlike articles on to the topmost row of a second stack of rodlike articles, the said topmost row being at a lower level than the said bottom row, and spaced from it in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the articles, comprising support means on which said bottom row rests, said means terminating adjacent said topmost row and closer to the said topmost row than are the adjacent ends of the rod-like articles in said bottom row to provideran end marginal portion of the support means, pusher means to push said bottom row over the said end marginal portion in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the articles, for the said bottom row to fall on to the said topmost row, and resilient means over the said end marginal portion of the support means to apply to the trailing ends of the articles, while the trailing ends are still supported by the support means, a downward force to stop the leading ends of the articles tilting downwards into contact with the topmost row due to their own weight as the trailing ends of the articles approach the extremity of the said end marginal portion of the supporting means.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the resilient means comprises a first hanging flexible strip having a length equal to the length of the row of articles and secured along its upper edge, and having its lower edge at the support means so that it is lifted by the row of cigarettes being pushed under it, and the lower part of the strip bends to apply the said downward force to the articles.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein bending of the first strip is localized at its lower end by the provision of a second and less flexible strip at the side of the first strip nearer the second stack, the second strip being of less height than the first strip.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 and comprising a third strip of substantially the same degree of flexibility as the first strip, and located at the side of the second strip nearer the second stack, the third strip being of greater height than the first strip and bent so that its lower edge hangs over the downstream extremity of the support means, the downstream edge of the third strip being lifted by the row of cigarettes being pushed under it to apply an additional downward force to the articles which pushes downwards the trailing ends of the articles as they leaves the extremity of the support means.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the flexible strips are made of polyvinyl chloride.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,333,176 11/43 Hoban 221-261 X 2,432,561 12/47 DeMott 221-250 X 2,917,203 12/59 Hardin 22l--261 X 3,001,671 9/61 Pryor 221 3,103,772 9/63 Anderson 53-148 X GERALD M, FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

MORRIS TEMIN, HUGO O. SCHULZ, Examiners. 

1. APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING THE BOTTOM ROW OF A FIRST STACK OF RODLIKE ARTICLES ON TO THE TOPMOST ROW OF A SECOND STACK OF RODLIKE ARTICLES, THE SAID TOPMOST ROW BEING AT A LOWER LEVEL THAN THE SAID BOTTOM ROW, AND SPACED FROM IT IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE ARTICLES, COMPRISING SUPPORT MEANS ON WHICH SAID BOTTOM ROW RESTS, SAID MEANS TERMINATING ADJACENT SAID TOPMOST ROW AND CLOSER TO THE SAID TOPMOST ROW THAN ARE THE ADJACENT ENDS OF THE ROD-LIKE ARTICLES IN SAID BOTTOM ROW TO PROVIDE AN END MARGINAL PORTION OF THE SUPPORT MEANS, PUSHER MEANS TO PUSH SAID BOTTOM ROW OVER THE SAID END MARGINAL PORTION IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF THE ARTICLES, FOR THE SAID BOTTOM ROW TO FALL ON TO THE SAID TOPMOST ROW, AND RESILIENT MEANS OVER THE SAID END MARGINAL PORTION OF THE SUPPORT MEAN TO APPLY TO THE TRAILING ENDS OF THE ARTICLES, WHILE THE TILTING DOWNWARDS STILL SUPPORTED BY THE SUPPORT MEANS, A DOWNWARD FORCE TO STOP THE LEADING ENDS OF THE ARTICLES TILTING DOWNWARDS INTO CONTACT WITH THE TOPMOST ROW DUE TO THEIR OWN WEIGHT AS THE TRAILING ENDS OF THE ARTICLES APPROACH THE EXTREMITY OF THE SAID END MARGINAL PORTION OF THE SUPPORTING MEANS. 